Description

The United States on the eve of the Second World War was still a society largely isolated from the world. Facing enemies with unfamiliar cultural traditions, the U.S. government turned to anthropologists for insight. The result was a research effort that continued long after the war, aimed, in the words of Margaret Mead, at analyzing the cultural regularities in the characters of individuals who are members of societies that are inaccessible to direct observation. In 1953, Margaret Mead and Rhoda Métraux produced The Study of Culture at a Distance, a compilation of research from this period. This remarkable work, long unavailable, presents a rich and complex methodology for the study of cultures through literature, film, informant interviews, focus groups, and projective techniques. The book also provides fascinating insights into such diverse cultures as China, Thailand, Italy, Syria, France, Germany, Russia, Romania, and Great Britain, and includes some highly original analysis such as that of the Soviet style of chess, a study of Jean Cocteau's classic film La Belle et la Bête, and the cultural interpretations of Rorschach tests administered to Chinese subjects.

Margaret Mead served as Curator of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1925 to 1969. She began her career with a study of youth and adolescence in Samoan society, published as Coming of Age in Samoa (1928). She published prolifically, becoming a seminal figure in anthropology, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1979.

Contents

Chapter 1. The Purpose and Scope of This ManualChapter 2. The Needed Skills and Their Place in Cultural Analysis

Chapter 3. Theory and Practice

Theory and Methods Derived from Anthropology

Theory and Methods Derived from Other Disciplines

Chapter 4. Anthropological Models for the Study of Culture at a Distance

The Single Informant

The Study of Living Communities

PART II: NATIONAL CHARACTER

National Character: Theory and PracticeGeoffrey Gorer

PART III: GROUP RESEARCH

A: The Organization of Group ResearchMargaret Mead

B: Five Illustrations of Groups at Work

IntroductionRhoda Métraux

Chapter 1. Formulation of a Working Hypothesis: French Dyadic RelationshipsChapter 2. Formulation of a Working Hypothesis: The Swaddling Hypothesis

Chapter 3. Intragroup Interviewing: On thc Definition of Terms

The Chinese First Teacher

Sincerity

Chapter 4. Relations between Men and Women: Has the Woman a Soul?

The Position of the Woman

Woman’s Position Redefined

Chapter 5. Themes in Italian Culture: A First Discussion

PART IV: WORK WITH INFORMANTS

A: Informants in Group ResearchRhoda Métraux

B: Three Illustrations of Written Work by Informants

I.Polish Personality

Does Responsibility Mean Command?

Attitudes toward Various Parts of the Body

When Is a Pole Allowed to Be Soft?

II. My Inner Self

III. Russian Sensory Images

On the Sense of Touch

On the Sense of Smell

On the Sense of Hearing

C: Ten Illustrations of Interviews with Informants

I: Interview with a Syrian Woman: Life HistoryII: Interview with a Syrian Man: Life HistoryIII: Interview with a Polish Peasant Woman: Parents and ChildrenIV: Interview with a French Couple: Dyadic Relations in the FoyerV: nterview with a Young Frenchman: FriendshipVI: Interview with a Chinese Scholar: FriendshipVII: Interview with Two Jewish Men: Sheyneh and Prosteh YidenVIII: Interview with Two Jewish Women: Sheyneh and Prosteh YidenIX: Interview with a Russian Actor: Interpretation of RolesX: Interview with Four Russians: Images of Hate, Guilt, and Love

PART V: WRITTEN AND ORAL LITERATURE

IntroductionRhoda Métraux

Chapter 1. Relations between Men and Women in Chinese StoriesVirginia Heyer

Chapter 2. The Image of the Leader in Soviet “Post-October FolkloreNelly Schargo Hoyt

Chapter 3. A Russian Double Image Cluster: “Not-So: So”

The “Not-So: So” Images in Russian FolkloreNelly Schargo Hoyt

Rumor Cluster and Image Cluster: Detail from Group Discussion

Russian “Visual” ThinkingLeopold H. Haimson

Chapter 4. Trends in AffectlessnessNathan Leites

PART VI: FILM ANALYSIS

A: Movie Analysis in the Study of CultureMartha Wolfenstein

B: Five Illustrations of Film Analysis

IntroductionRhoda Métraux

I: Notes on an Italian Film, The Tragic HuntMartha Wolfenstein

II: Notes on Two French Films

The Father Figure in Panique Jane Belo

Notes on La Belle et La Bête Geoffrey Gorer

III: An Analysis of Seven Cantonese FilmsJohn Hast Weakland

IV: An Analysis of the Soviet Film The Young Guard

Plot SummaryMargaret Mead

Comparison of the Film and the NovelVera Schwarz (Alexandrova)

V: An Analysis of the Nazi Film Hltlerjunge QuexGregory Bateson

PART VII: PROJECTIVE TESTS

A: The Use of Projective Tests in Group ResearchMargaret Mead

B: Two Illustrations of the Use of Projective Tests with Chinese Subjects

Visual Perception and Spatial Organization: A Study of Performance on the Horn-Hellersberg Test by Chinese SubjectsElisabeth F. Hellersberg

Some Aspects of Personality of Chinese as Revealed by the Rorschach TestTheodora M. Abel and Francis L. K. Hsu

PART VIII: IMAGERY

Resonance in ImageryRhode Métraux

PART IX: END LINKAGE: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH

A: History of the ApproachMargaret Mead

B: Formulation of End LinkageGregory Bateson

C: Four Applications of End Linkage Analysis

Applications of End Linkage Formulations to Anglo-American

Relations in World War IIMargaret Mead

Male Dominance in Thai CultureRuth Benedict

Non-Reciprocity among East European JewsNatalie F. Joffe

A Note on the Spectator in French CultureRhoda Métraux

PART X: APPLICATIONS OF STUDIES OF CULTURE AT A DISTANCE

A: Political Applications of Studies of Culture at a DistanceMargaret Mead

B: Seven Applications of Studies of Culture at a Distance

Japanese Character Structure and PropagandaGeoffrey Gorer

Some Problems of Cross-Cultural Communication between Britain and the United States: Based upon Lecturing in Britain and the United States during World War IIMargaret Mead

History as It Appears to RumaniansRuth Benedict

Courage: Cumulative Effects of SacrificeSula Benet

Chinese Family Images in International AffairsJohn Hast Weakland

The Soviet Style of ChessLeopold II. Haimson

The Soviet Image of CorruptionMartha Wolfenstein

APPENDIXES

Appendix A: Recommendations for the Organization of Group ResearchMargaret Mead

Appendix B: A List of Participants in Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures and Successor Projects